West beats East 12-11 in All-Star Skills

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Bobby Butler of the Albany Devils competed in three events tonight in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition as Western Conference edged the East 12-11 at the Dunkin Donuts Center.

Butler and Radko Gudas of Syracuse combined in the Rapid Fire event against goaltender Barry Brust of Abbotsford. Butler scored on two of five and Gudas four of five to help the East to a point.

In the Accuracy Shooting, Butler hit only two targets in eight attempts as the West wound up getting two points in the event. Butler mishandled the puck twice and couldn’t deliver a shot.

The final event was the Breakaway Relay, in which all 18 skaters on each team go against the goalies in a penalty-shot style competition. Each goal counted as one point. Butler was stopped by Grand Rapids goaltender Petr Mzazek, who was 6-for-6 on saves.

Former Albany River Rats goaltender Justin Peters, who is representating Charlotte and will start Monday night’s all-star game for the Western Conference, stopped 8 of 10 attempts in the Rapid Fire and all three attempts in the Pass And Score.

Peters was the last goalie in the Breakaway Relay. He took the net with the West nursing a 12-11 lead and faced six shooters. He stopped all six, making a glove save on Trent Whitfield — a Providence player who had the crowd on its feet — on the final shot.